to learn more about the h1n1 flu vaccination visit h1n1get1.com or call your local health department it's up to you to fight the flu. tonight on "world news" -- pushback. the president cuts short his vacation to take on terrorism and security. but he'll return to a capital filled with fingerpointing. did the president fail to see the real terror threat? network of terror. confirmation today that the christmas plane bomber was trained and armed by al qaeda. proof that the terrorist group is very much alive. vision of courage. the extraordinary teenager who tackles the gridiron without the gift of sight. what he sees that others can't. and blue moon babies. twin boys born in two different decades. it could give sibling rivalry a whole new dimension.

good evening. i'm john berman. for the first time today, president obama said that al qaeda was behind the plot to blow up a detroit-bound airliner on christmas day and that the would-be bomber was trained in yemen by al qaeda operatives. tomorrow, president obama will cut short his hawaiian vacation to deal with the issue. but, back in washington, he might not like what he hears. yungi de nies is traveling with the president and joins us from hawaii. >> reporter: good evening, john. this is the first time that the president has publicly linked the suspect to al qaeda. it's clear he's no lone extremist, but part of a bigger problem and a bigger threat. president obama is still going through the initial reviews he ordered after the attempted

bombing on flight 253. but he says one thing is clear -- that umar farouk was part of an al qaeda affiliated group in yemen. >> this group, trained him, equipped with those explosives. and directed him to attack that plane headed for america. >> reporter: the president said even before the christmas day indent, his administration has been pursuing this group along with the wider al qaeda network. >> this was a failure and a breakdown from beginning to end. >> reporter: republicans are critical of the vacationing president and his homeland security chief with some even calling for her to resigned. >> she said that the system worked last week. that shows that she's out of touch. i don't think that she's competent to run that agency. >> reporter: but today the president urged unity. but unity may be hard to find back in washington.

the president is heading home a day early. his administration will face tough questions from lawmakers who are conducting an investigation of their own. and white house aides said that the president is heading home early because he has a lot on his plate and wants to get straight back to work. first up on his agenda, a meeting with the heads of all of the relevant agencies to figure out what went wrong. >> john? >> thanks very much. as yungi reported, president obama returns to washington, poised to be critical. terry moran is following that part of the story. terry, what are the specific areas that the president is likely to be pressed on? >> well, number one, john, competence on terrorism and national security issue. that is what this has raised for a lot of americans and a lot of people in congress this notion of the ability to do the job to protect the countr

this is not something that president obama ran on. his aides said he's been focused on it behind the scenes. the first thing he'll have to do is to demonstrate that he's on top of it. and he's done that by ordering these reviews. then there's political vulnerability. which is related to that. no question that the republicans are going into this election year s this, once again, as an opportunity to score some points as they head into the midterm election. >> is there any limit that the republicans can run with this? or, do they see some risk of pushing too far? >> there's no sign yet that the republicans see a risk of pushing this too far politically. representative pete hoekstra on the program morrow, sent out a fund-raising letter, give me money to counter president obama's policies. that old tradition of silence and solidarity around the president has dissolved and it looks like the republicans don't

believe there will be any backlash. they're doing, they're calling for the resignation of janet napolitano, the homeland security secretary. and saying the president must stop his plan to close the prison at guantanamo bay. so, they feel they got the political momentum on this. no sign they're paying any kind of political price for politicizing this security issue. >> thanks, terry. terry will have more tomorrow on "this week" guests include john brennan, senator lieberman and pete hoekstra. as president obama confirmed today the christmas day terror plot was hatched by a fraction of al qaeda operating out of the country of yemen. the white house has been focusing money and attention on yemen for some time. top officials say they'll double the money that the u.s. has sent to that country to fight terrorism. rachel martin reports. >> reporter: eight years after

9/11, al qaeda is alive and growing. >> we have permitted the development of an al qaeda organization that's vibrant, widespread and lethal. sooner or later, we'll have to do something about that. >> reporter: al qaeda has dug its heel in and around the arab peninsula and in africa. from nigeria and somalia. each branch of the organization with its own local leaders, allegedly taking orders from the top. >> osama bin laden is not a micromanager. he's a very talented modern ceo. he kind of establishes the goals and discusses the targets. >> reporter: and yemen has emerged as a key hub. >> the transit of fighters, safe haven for fighters. the movement of lodge city call materials. yemen is perfectly placed for all of those things. >> reporter: last year the u.s. government tagged $70 million to fight terrorism in yemen.

u.s. officials say that number will double this year. but it's hard to tell if the u.s. is throwing good money after bad. >> there's always the question of when you give aid, where that ends up. that's a little bit of a risk that we have to take here. >> reporter: in the last two weeks u.s. has launched two raise. >> we can't go to war with these countries. if we do, we play into al qaeda narrative. and we make it more successful organization every time we put additional forces overseas into muslim countries. >> reporter: experts say that al qaeda is using yemen to try to lure the u.s. into another ground offensive. that's something that obama administration wants to avoid. >> rachel martin. at least 96 people died when a suicide car bomber drove into a crowded volleyball game in pakistan. and the rubble is being searched for more bodies. the village had been fighting to resist taliban infiltration.

the cia is vowing to avenge in afghanistan. tonight, we have new evidence that the bomber was someone that the agency knew. nick sifrin has the story from kabul. >> reporter: along the afghanistan/pakistan, america's most dangerous emies have a safe haven. and the cia officers killed this week were trying to break that. abc news has learned that the suicide bomber was a regular informant for the cia. a pakistani, invited on the base ltiple times. on wednesday afternoon, he was driven from the pakistani border by the camp security director. he wasn't even searched. at least 13 cia officers gathered to meet him for an intelligence briefing when he blew himself up. >> the cia is trying to hunt and kill islamic militants on both sides of the border. in order to do that, they need to recruit spies. that's the highest calling of a

cia officer overseas is to put a spy in the enemy camp. >> reporter: those camps around the pakistani side of the border hold the most senior taliban leaders. the cia officers were part of the covert campaign to kill them. with unmanned aerial drones. >> to go after the taliban on the pakistani side of the border, the united states relies almost exclusively on its predator drones. but those predators require agents on the ground to direct them. >> reporter: the risks for the cia are only expected to increase here. the agency is expanding its operations both in pakistan and in afghanistan. today, the cia said its resolve was greater than ever and it vowed revenge on an enemy that managed to infiltrate one of its most important bases. nick schifrin, abc news, kabul. we turn now to former cia agent bob baer, who was

stationed in that part of the world, what does this attack do to gather information. >> i hit the's cats trofkic. the cia will be reluctant to send people out in the field and have them meet afghans for fear of being killed by a suicide bomber. >> can you be sure that the people that you're meeting with are legit? >> you can't always be sure. it will always be present. >> what does it say that the taliban was essentially able to infiltrate the cia, isn't it supposed to be the other way around? >> well, it's not a question of infiltrating, what they did is, they met this asset inside the base. they were worried about an ambush. normally, an officer would go out and meet one-on-one an agent like this. you can't do tt any longer in afghanistan because you would be kidnapped. they brought the guy in, where there was some sort of protection. >> bob, if you're stationed overseas right now, what's going through your head? >> i would be very reluctant as a case officer to go out anywhere in afghanistan

including kabul, to meet a source like this, and i think what's going to happen, we're going to know, less and less about the country rather than more simply we have been cut off from the people. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. in denmark, police shot a somali man who they said was trying to kill a controversial cartoonist. his portrayal of muhammad triggered protests in 2005. the cartoonist survived by hiding in a special safe room. after a u.s. judge dismissed the charges against them the five blackwater guards opened fire on a baghdad street in 2007, leaving 17 civilians dead. the shooting hardenened antiamerica sentiment in iraq. still ahead on "world news" this saturday -- the new year brings new laws and lifestyle changes for millions of americans. how they'll affect you. a young man stays in the game that he loves even though he can't see the field.

true grit in the heartland. and it's all in the timing. identical twins with birthdays in different decades. years from now, how will we look back on today? as the gat recession? or as the recession that made us great? allstate has seen twelve recoveries. but this one's different. because we're diffent. we realized our ings are not as important... as the future we're building with the ones we love. protect yours. put it... in good hands. ♪ that's when i'd had it with heartburn. the guy was hilarious. but i was in pain, so i stepped out. (comedian) hey, are you walkin' out on me-- is it past your curfew? i will never make that mistake again. that's when i'd had it with frequent heartburn. and that's when i got prevacid®24hr...

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laws affecting all aspects of our lives. new vows in the new year. new hampshire becomes the fifth state to allow same-sex couples to get married. it seems to be one of the few laws adding to what you can do. most new laws are about can't, don't or stop. california becomes the first state to limit trans fats in >> it affects your health and well being. >> reporter: also in california, new laws making it easier for stars to sue paparazzi for snapping photos during private moments. in illinois, don't text while you're driving, now can cost you up to 150 bucks. north carolina joins at least 23 states in banning smoking in bars and restaurants. but keep in mind -- north carolina's the country's number one tobacco-producing state. >> for me to say you can't do

this, but you can do that, i just don'think that's the way you can operate. >> reporter: in texas, now extends to the tanning bed. teenagers will need an adult with them if they want to get that extra indoor bronzing. back up in new hampshire a win for your furry friends. especially the sore ones. >> good boy. >> reporter: physical therapists will now be able to get certified to practice on animals. happy dogs with stiff backs. in contrast to the new laws, one federal law expired on new year's day the estate tax, it slipped through the legislative cracks. gone with it is $14 billion for the u.s. treasury. abc's laura marquez has more. >> it seems to be on everybody's minds now. >> reporter: the state tax planner represents some of america's wealthiest families and those families just got a big gift from congress. congress was too busy last year to get around to renewing the estate tax. which takes a significant part

of a large inheritance. so on january 1st, the tax disappeared. >> someone who died this year a opposed to next year, with no change in the law, could save 60% of value passing to their family. >> just 1% of america families are wealthy enough to pay the estate tax. if they don't pay, it afxs all of us. the congress budget office estimates that this year, 5500 families would have paid a total of $14 billion in estate taxes. congress could renew the tax this year and make it retroactive back to january 1st. but a retroactive law may not fly with the courts. in the meantime the heirs of wealthy americans near the end of their life, has a new dilemma. >> if the person who has the power to pull the plug, i think it's human nature for that to become part of the inheriting.

>> reporter: death and taxes have never been more intertwined. laura marquez, abc news, los angeles. and next on "world news" -- playing football in the dark. a tough young athlete shows and tells how he does it. it's an amazing story. ...and i smoked for 29 years. the one thing about smoking - is it dominates your life, and it dominated mine. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. it was very interesting that you could smoke on the first week. (announcer) chantix is a non-nicotine pill. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it is proven to reduce the urge to smoke. i did have an unopen pack of cigarettes in my purse and i said, "what the heck, i don't need these..." ...i said, you know, "bye, i don't need you anymore, you're not my crutch, i don't need a crutch." (announcer) talk to your doctor about chantix

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every athlete in every competitive sport has challenges to face, obstacles to overcome, but the young man you're about to meet is doing something that many people might think is simply impossible. with thanks to our partners at espn, here's his remarkable story in his own words. >> i play football. with the four senses that i have left in me. one quality that sets me apart. i can't see. my name is charles wilks, i'm 14 years old and this is my story. i have lived in emporia, kansas, all my life. pretty much here, all i do is, play football here at the high school. how do i do it? i'm listening to the

quarterback say, the down set hike. then the mide linebacker will yell, go. my name on the football field is the beast. i hit hard. and i don't have any mercy for anybody. when i was born, i had sight. about nine years ago, i found out that i had a brain tumor. it expanded until it crushed my optical nerve. how hard was that for you, mom? >> it was pretty scary, charlie, i didn't know what was going to happen. >> i would have to say, that i don't miss anything about being able to see. >> charlie, you can't hold him down.

>> and what my coaches did is, one of the greatest things that they could have ever done for me. once i hit them once or twice, then they realized that i'm not going to go easy on them. so, they stopped going easy on me. i think my biggest fear would be -- getting my sight back. once you go blind, you start imagining the world as this perfect place. getting your sight back and seeing how imperfect it is, crushes some blind people. playing football is pretty much what i have planned for my life. if you imagine a disability as a crutch, don't use the disability as a crutch, you should use the disability as a leg and start

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and finally tonight, once in a blue moon, or twice in this case, there are a couple of babies in tampa today, with an amazing distinction. marcello and stephano are twins. like most twins born minutes apart. but unlike most twins, they were born in separate decades. >> and the first twin, marcello was the last player of 2009. stephano arrived in 2010. >> reporter: the proud father sees some advantages to the calendar quirk. >> it will be -- it will be good because they will have different parties. birthday parties you know. >> different parties. but if they're like my twin boys they'll still fight over the same bulldozer. that's it for this "world news." tomorrow "good morning america" will have the latest on developments in yemen. i'm john berman, have a good night. produce with a 100% guarantee...

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